Economic Trends in Appalachian Coalfield Counties

Abstract

An economic profile of the Appalachian coalfield counties is presented including trends in population, income, employment, labor force participation and unemployment, educational attainment, and poverty. Appalachian coalfield counties with relatively low populations (less than 100,000) are categorized into county types based on historical coal production. Economic characteristics of these county types are compared with those of other Appalachian counties, with counties outside Appalachia, and with high-population counties in Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Results show declining populations and labor forces, and slower rates of income growth for rural high-coal-production Appalachian counties; these same county types have lower income levels, higher unemployment, and higher poverty rates compared to the non-Appalachian counties in the seven states. These differences have been evident for decades. As the coal-mining industry has experienced declining production and employment in recent years, economic conditions in rural high-coal-production counties have declined. Formal educational attainment rates in rural coal-production counties are lower than in the more prosperous non-Appalachian and high-population counties of the seven states.